I've just started my training within the last few weeks as my wrestling season finally got finishedand I can concentrate on cycling. I've been disappointed with my speeds and how weak I've felt on the bike.

Anyway, I was thinking of ways to pick up my training a little quicker and in addition to intervals and stuff I thought about riding twice a day. Are there any programs that call for two rides? I know of weightlifting programs that have morning and afternoon lifts. Does anyone have any experience with this? Would going for a ride in the morning (probably shorter due to time constraints, but still intense if that day calls for it) and then a longer ride after school help to make me stronger or would it just beat me up and wear me out? Any insights on this would be great, thanks.

Read feidl, he shows how to plan two rides in one day. When I do that I do a long enduance ride for one workout and a short interval session for the other...

Ah, ok that's what I was kind of thinking. Easy just distance in the morning b/c it's dark and cold and scary, just shooting to cover some mileage. Then at night crank it up and do some intervals, sprints, and that kind of stuff. Thanks.

I was going to ask the same question today because I can not take the wind trainer for more than an hour. I was thinking of doing one ride in the morning and one at night.

Yes, but after the long endurance ride be sure to hydrate and get enough energy to power your next workout. I've found that workouts too close together are bad becuase of the need for energy after the first ride. In your case though, you should have enough time to recover from the first ride.

I've always viewed multiple rides per day as a way to fit your training volume into your schedule, rather than as a method to train more or train harder.

If your personal optimum training volume is 10 hours per week, then it doesn't really matter a lot if you do it as 5 two hour workouts or as 10 one hour workouts. (The exception, of course, is long endurance rides. 4 one hour rides doesn't necessarily equal 1 four hour ride.)

I would say to first figure out how many hours per week you can spend training without overtraining or burning out, and then schedule your workouts once or twice a day so that they fit in your schedule. Like sbeatonNJ said, if you need to train for two hours on a certain day, but can only stand to use the wind trainer for an hour at a time, by all means schedule two workouts that day.

Yes. It's called "Commuting."

I do a short fast route to work, but few hills. On the way home, especially a few weeks before a long distance ride, I take a longer route home with some hills. I feel the added weight of my commute stuff helps train as well (I've even added 20lbs of weights to my bags on occassion).

Ha! Great answer. Now that the days are a bit longer, I'll be riding to work once a week or so. 14 miles each way with some hills. A great way to start the day!

Sheldon

But seriously, folks....

I started riding my bike to work for that very reason. I was training for a triathlon and I was finding it too easy to blow off evening bike workouts. It's a long day at work, and then you ride the bus home, and it's a hot day, blah blah blah, and the next thing you know the sun is going down and you haven't done a dang thing.

So, I started riding to work so I'd have my bike with me. Turn your ride home into a 20 or 30 mile detour and pretty soon you're racking up some serious miles.